Dubai News Today: Bentley Acquires SACS, Leading Software for Offshore Structure Analysis

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Bentley Acquires SACS, Leading Software for Offshore Structure Analysis

Further Extends Its #1 Position in Structural Analysis and Design Software

EXTON, Pa. - Thursday, March 3rd 2011 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, today announced, during its first Annual Corporate Update conference call, that it has acquired the SACSbusiness from Engineering Dynamics, Inc. SACS is an integrated finite element structural analysis suite of programs that uniquely provides for the design, fabrication, installation, operations, and maintenance of offshore structures, including oil platforms and wind farms. Thirty-eight years of focus on these specialized requirements have made SACS the analysis mainstay for most of the world’s offshore engineers. Virtually all of the world’s energy companies specify SACS software for use by their engineering firms across the lifecycle of fixed offshore platforms. Among these firms are DORIS Engineering, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), Saipem, Technip, Wood Group, and WorleyParsons. Other users include engineering certification firms such as American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas Group, China Classification Society, Germanischer Lloyd AG, and Lloyd’s Register Group.

SACS complements Bentley’s broad range of flexible and scalable integrated structural analysis and design offerings, including STAAD, RAM, ProSteel, and Bentley Structural Modeler, providing opportunity for even more comprehensive solutions. Additional growth opportunities will come from increasing offshore drilling operations in China, India, and Brazil – countries in which Bentley already has a strong foothold – and expanding use of offshore wind farms as a renewable energy source.

Commenting on the new acquisition, Bentley Software SVP Bhupinder Singh said, “Our simulation team is particularly enthused about this new acquisition. Bentley already is #1 in structural analysis and design software for building, plant, bridge, civil, and geostructural applications. The addition of the SACS suite of software extends this market-leading position to include the structural analysis and design of offshore structures. On behalf of Bentley Systems I welcome our new SACS colleagues. This resourceful development group will bring us valuable experience and algorithms that may also apply to more general structural solutions.”

CEO Greg Bentley said, “With respect to Bentley’s strategy to realize the potential of information modeling through integrated projects for high-performing intelligent infrastructure, offshore structures provide an important opportunity. With increasing demands for offshore resource exploration, requirements for even better safety are obviously paramount. While capabilities such as those provided by SACS are essential for these engineering challenges, the construction and operations challenges also invite integration with Bentley’s market-leading offerings for pipe stress analysis, construction simulation, and operations information modeling.”

John Fowler, who co-founded Engineering Dynamics in 1973, was formerly the company’s president, and is now a Bentley consultant, said, “Our team is pleased to join Bentley and looks forward to working with our new colleagues in bringing a steady stream of innovative capabilities to the SACS product line. The breadth and depth of Bentley’s software solutions for sustaining infrastructure will undoubtedly result in integrations with SACS that further extend the software’s application range. For example, many SACS users would benefit from the enhanced collaboration and engineering content management that ProjectWise facilitates. In addition, Bentley’s ProSteel and ProConcrete structural detailing and fabrication software would fill the need among offshore platform design teams for automated documentation and detailing capabilities. And the integration of Bentley’s AutoPIPE stress analysis software would improve the engineering of offshore piping systems.”

SACS consists of multiple integrated modules that enable engineers to dynamically generate any type of offshore structural system using templates or free-form modeling tools. The model can then be subjected to environmental loads, such as waves or marine growth, and investigated for various “what-if” scenarios, including the effects of fatigue, collapse, ship impact, transportation, and installation. To accommodate the various soil conditions involved in shallow and deepwater exploration, SACS also offers a comprehensive solution for the design of advanced foundation systems.

Outside of North America, SACS products are supported through specialized channel partners. Bentley looks forward to continued strategic relationships with these partners.

Ion Partners LLC acted as financial advisor to Engineering Dynamics, Inc. on this transaction.

For additional information about Bentley’s SACS software for offshore structure analysis, visit www.bentley.com/SACS.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Bentley’s mission is to empower its users to leverage information modeling throughintegrated projects for high-performingintelligent infrastructure. Its solutions encompass the MicroStation platform for infrastructure design and modeling, the ProjectWise platform for infrastructure project team collaboration and work sharing, and the AssetWise platform for infrastructure asset operations – all supporting a broad portfolio of interoperable applications and complemented by worldwide professional services. Founded in 1984, Bentley has grown to nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries and $500 million in annual revenues. Since 2001, the company has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

Additional information about Bentley is available at www.bentley.comand in Bentley’s annual report. For Bentley news as it happens, subscribe to an RSS feedof Bentley press releases and news alerts. To view a searchable collection of innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, access Bentley’s Year in Infrastructurepublications. To access a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit Be Communities.

To download the Bentley Infrastructure 500 Top Owners ranking, a unique global compendium of the top public- and private-sector owners of infrastructure based on the value of their cumulative infrastructure investments, visit www.bentley.com/500.

Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, Be, ProjectWise, and MicroStation are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.